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Friday, April 26, 2013

A Major blow

Griffin Reinhart (Edmonton Oil Kings)

From the Edmonton Oil Kings:

The Edmonton Oil Kings announced today that they will be without their Captain for possibly 6 weeks. Veteran defenceman Griffin Reinhart sustained a foot injury in Game 3 of the Husky WHL Eastern Conference Championship in Calgary against the Hitmen. The first round pick of the New York Islanders underwent successful surgery Thursday to repair a torn tendon in his foot.

The 19-year-old has contributed to the Oil Kings 2013 playoff run with 3 goals and 4 assists with a +5 rating through 12 games.

The original reports hinted at a skate slicing through Reinhart's skate during game 3 in Calgary. It is a huge blow to the Oil Kings losing both their captain and one of the best defensemen in all of the Canadian juniors.

This will make Edmonton's goal of repeating as WHL champions that much harder especially if they wind up facing Portland in the finals should they get that far.

Oh and those wondering what happened with the Armada and Drakkar after their moronic postgame brawl?

Following the events that occurred during the end of the game between the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada last night, the Director of Player safety of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Raymond Bolduc, announced the following sanctions:

Moreover, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada forward, Cédric Paquette, is fined $1 000 for his inappropriate behaviour at the end of the game.

Each of the organizations is fined $5 000 and the head coaches, Eric Veilleux and Jean-François Houle are suspended for the next 2 games.

The Director of Player Safety took this decision after having viewed the video of the incidents, considered the officials report, spoken to the Baie-Comeau and Blainville-Boisbriand organizations and consulted with his senior advisor, Sébastien Bordeleau.

Both teams lose their starting and backup goalies for at least one game leaving a 3rd string goalie to play game 5 in a series tied at 2-2. Both teams have only themselves to blame for this.

In the meantime, the Halifax Mooseheads are sitting at home waiting to pick the bones of whoever wins this series.

And a little late to the party is QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau:

The Commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Gilles Courteau, reacted today to last night’s events between the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

"What we saw yesterday is not at all representative of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. It is a deplorable and isolated incident that doesn’t have its place in hockey," said the Commissioner.

"The League has evolved a tremendous deal in the past several years and we have deployed all of our efforts to ensure the well-being and security of our players. To this effect, at my discretion, I will impose a $25 000 fine, on top of any sanctions imposed by the Director of Player Safety, for all inappropriate future behaviour from a player, coach or member of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar or Blainville-Boisbriand Aramda organisations until the end of the semi-finals."

The Commissioner said that the League has advocated to its players, for a number of years, a mutually respectful attitude whilst rejecting violent behaviour. Our priority will always be the supervision and safety of our players, said Gilles Courteau. "We need to meet this goal by creating an environment where they can feel free to play hockey safely. In this regard, we must deter players from inappropriate behaviour. I reiterate that it is important that this League be the best place for a player’s development."